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No Place for Us (plot)
Dystopia is arguably the most socially critical genre of fiction and despite a resurgence of popularity we have seen very little depictions of marginalized people; that’s why our latest project at GMP is a dystopian anthology. We’re looking for stories about people that we see too little of: People of color, disabled people, and LGBTQIA+ peoples. This is an open call for “No Place for Us”; an anthology of short romantic fiction which takes place in a dystopian world. Any story containing copyrighted characters is not permitted, but fanfic which has been edited to be a stand-alone story with original characters is acceptable. All gender pairings, sub-genre, and content rating are accepted for this book, but the main theme has to be romance. The word limit is a 15,000 word maximum with no minimum word count. Authors will retain the copyright to their work, receive $30.00USD for accepted works, and receive a free paperback copy of the book upon publication. Authors from all over the world and from any age group (under the age of 18 is accepted) are invited to submit their stories. The submission deadline is January 31, 2015. Please email all submissions in Word format to submissions@goodmourningpublishing.com. Feel free to email any questions to the same address. Original post Tossing ideas around *Setting: Dystopia (duh) *Plot: The Magic Comes Back *Narrative Device: Living A Double Life (Elsie living a secret life as a magic user) *Hero: Tragic Hero *Villain: Moral Sociopathy *Character as Device: Compassionate Critic *Characterization Device: Übermensch (rejects our norms of society for his/her own moral code) Main character: Granya Seidel (female) OR, use Jane as main character and Granya as supportive main character/love interest? OR just have Jane as the support main character, either way she's there. I can bring in Elsie and Will as part of the returning magic (Elsie being the one who brings it back and Will trying to warn everyone that magic wasn't really all rainbows and sparkles it was mostly cruel god-like spirits doing horrible things but by all means don't listen to the expert who was there and saw it). In this universe, Jane was institutionalised because of a laerning handicap (Aspie?) but adopted by Elsie who petitioned to be her caretaker? Alternative, Jane is the one with the physical handicap (whoever gets the physical handicap gets the be the POV character, daing a same-sex aspie is as far as my own experience goes after all) and Else is Janes biological mother, born as a part of the whole repopulating thing. Things to remember It is most likely not just one thing that led to the dystopi. It can't all be blamed on "the goernment" or "evil corporations". It has to be a severe situation where the dystopian society can be painted as a necessary evil to keep any kind of society alive. I want to give it a post-apocalyptic feel, where people grit and move on as best as they can and pretend not to see the suffering of their fellow man. No need to ascetic aesthetic, grit and filth feels more natural. I don't really like the "ban on love" trope, but curfews and bans on mixed marriage and homosexuality? Yes, that sounds like something. Perhaps an enforced breeding/"repopulation" program where people aren't strictly speaking forced to reproduce but there's a lot of shaming on people who don't? Characters *Elizabeth Tifft *Granya Seidel *Jane *Will Settings A dystopic small city under harsch regulations that crimps minorities in the name of safety. Research list Plot Sketch *'Story goal:' Bring back the magic *'Romance thread:' Jane and Granya *'Subplot threads:' The treatment of the disabled **Unsafe workplaces and how handicapped people are treated. **The little details that makes society hellish. How society created the dystopia and brought it upon themselves and encourage subtle bullying of those who are outliers. *'Plot tension:' Increasing hostilities towards minorities. *'Romantic/sexual tension:' Jane and Granya fumbling through a vague relationship. *'Release:' Whenever Jane and Granya get a little bit closer. *'Downtime:' Elsie has summoned Will and uses him to amplify her abilities. Will warns them that magic isn't the answer. *'Black moment:' Jane has been permanently locked into the institution and Jane isn't allowed to meet her. Elsie declares war against the regime and fights it by reawakening old magic, summoning an army of fairy tale creatures that unfortunately won't listen to her commands but revel in causing havok all the same. *'Resolution:' Jane manages to free Granya when a giant troll crashes into the building, leaving enough of an opening that Jane can sneak in. *'After effects of the resolution:' Will, Elsie, Jane and Granya living in a chaotic world of wild magic and essentially no laws whatsoever. Granya is suffering without her medication and Elsie still haven't found a way to heal Jane with magic. Moreover, now she's handicapped herself and a wanted person to boot. Summary outline (free form summary of scenes appearing in the middle portion) Miscellaneous scene notes (a free-form summary of scenes apearing in the middle ortion of the book) Closing scene notes (scenes appearing in the closing portion) Story evolution - the beginning #'Conflict is introduced:' the regime #'Story goal is introduced:' Elsie's goal to overthrow the regime #'Characters are outfitted for their tasks:' Elsie, Jane and Granya #'Detail each character's strength and weaknesses:' ##'Elsie: '''Elsie has a very strong faith in her own belief and is steady as a bedrock in her conviction. However, her rigidity sometimes makes her blind to other people's limits and disdainful towards their weakness. Because of this she resolves that if she wants a social chance then she can't rely on democratic means and decides to to it single-handedly using magic. ##'Jane:' Jane is a strange mix of weak-willed and steadfast. She easily follows in the same way she always had because it's the path of least resistance. She's easily manipulated. ##'Granya:' Granya's resolve is even weaker than Jane's, though a lot of it is because of her medication and the way she has been treated. She has some difficulty with impulse control and comprehending the results of her actions. On the upside she is as genuinely loving as Elsie is self-confident, so the three balance each other out quite well. Story evolution - the middle #Characters design short-term goals to reach the story goal ## ## ## #Quest to reach the story goal begins #First short term goals are thwarted. #Characters react with disappointment ## ## ## #stakes of conflict are raised #characters react to the conflict ## ## ## #characters revise old or design new short-term goals. ## ## ## #quest to reach the story goal is continued #short-term goals are again thwarted #characters react with disappointment #stakes of the conflict are raised #characters react to the conflict #'Downtime begins:' Elsie has summoned Will, who warns them against the dangers of magic #characters revise old or design new short-term goals with renewed vigor #the quest to reach the story goal continues, but instability abounds #'the black moment begins:' Jane has been permanently locked into the institution and Jane isn't allowed to meet her. #'the characters react to the black moment': Story evolution - the end #'a pivotal, life-changing event occurs': Elsie declares war against the regime and fights it by reawakening old magic, summoning an army of fairy tale creatures that unfortunately won't listen to her commands but revel in causing havok all the same. #'characters modify short-term goals one last time:' Jane hobbles off to save Granya. #the showdown begins #the opposition is vanquished and the conflict ends #the story goal is achieved. #Characters react to the resolution of the plot and the subplots #the relationship black moment is addressed (romance novels only) #Characters revise their life goals #Possible re-emergence of the conflict or opposition Scenes *'Elsie's habit of drinking her tea sweet and with milk has to be subtly established somewhere, possibly in a scene where Jane takes Granya with her home.''' *Elsie and Jane meets at a free speech promotional meeting and bonds when they have to make a run for it and gets lost. *First time visiting the insitution and some insight in how it works. *Some insight in Jane's work situation (she's still going to school but has a very hectic weekend work?). Details on her injury. *How the injury has affected Jane's life, describing Jane's home life. *One of the patients at the insitution hangs himself. Medication is discussed. *Jane and Granya first kiss *The scene where Jane and Granya meet Will and he explains a few things to them. Get their ages cemented, Jane at least is still younger than 18? *Jane and Granya are caught groping each other, leading to Granya being locked in. *Jane talking to Will over tea, considering her actions and what is the correct decision to make - morally as well as legaly. *Elsie declares war on the regime and unleashes the old magic, summoning an army of fairy tale creatures. *It turnes out that these creatures are no where near as pliable as Will, and they more or less run the circus on their own. *Jane manages to free Granya after a troll crashes into the institution, causing enough havoc that no one notices when Jane slips by. *In the epilogue Jane, Granya Elsie and Will live together in the new chaotic world of wild magic and essentially no laws whatsoever. Granya and Jane are more or less unable to get medication and Elsie can only do so much with magic, even with Will's help. Interesting tropes *Disabled Means Helpless Averted, of course *Handy Helper A mutual example where two disabilities cancel each other out? *So You Want To: Write A Dystopia Category:Stories Category:WIP